A student from Grassy Creek Elementary School shows off a LEGO design from her classroom project.

INDIANAPOLIS (June 14, 2017) — TechPoint Foundation for Youth is thrilled to announce that it has exceeded its $30,000 fundraising goal to support the EnablINg STEM Teacher Grant program. Thanks to a $10,000 matching donation from Angie’s List Foundation and the generosity of the attendees at this year’s TechPoint Mira Awards Gala, the funds will support 60 classroom projects designed to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum.

This competitive grant, which is open to all Indiana kindergarten through 8th grade classroom teachers in schools with a free and reduced price lunch percentage of 55% or greater, provides grant dollars to teachers to support the purchase of supplies and equipment that reinforce STEM curriculum in the classroom. Applications are evaluated based on their ability to implement hands-on, project-based STEM programming, while also focusing on the use of resources that could extend beyond the school year, and have an emphasis on student STEM engagement.

Students from East Side Elementary School in Edinburgh perform a hands-on science experiment in their classroom.

“We know that our state’s great teachers far too often pay for classroom supplies out of their own pockets,” said Laura Dodds, TechPoint Foundation for Youth Executive Director. “By supplementing school supply budgets, this grant makes it possible for students to explore exciting STEM curriculum in a hands-on way and allows teachers to be creative, while also helping to reduce the amount of money teachers are spending.”

Students from Spring Mill Elementary School play with their HexBug kits.

Since 2013, grants have been awarded to 65 teachers throughout Indiana, with projects impacting over 15,000 low-income students. However, as the grant has grown in popularity, it has been harder to keep up with demand, as qualified teacher applications have outnumbered the funding available to support the projects.

This latest fundraising campaign has resulted in the largest grant fund available to teachers since the grant opened thanks to the support of our partners at Angie’s List Foundation, TechPoint, and a generous anonymous donation that followed the 2017 Mira Awards Gala in April.

Students from West Newton Elementary School on the south side of Indianapolis show of their classroom projects.

While the grant is currently closed, applications are accepted for spring and fall grant cycles, with the next cycle opening on August 7th to support Fall 2017 projects.

To learn more about the EnablINg STEM Teacher Grant and to apply when the next cycle opens, please visit the EnablINg STEM Grants page or follow us on social media.